Hollywood A-lister Rhys Ifans has welcomed the news that his former school has made history by scoring a High Court victory against its closure.

The star from Ruthin has always supported the campaign against merging Welsh-medium Ysgol Pentrecelyn with bilingual Ysgol Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd.

Today, he reacted to a High Court ruling that Denbighshire Council’s consultation process was “hopelessly confused” and caused restrictions described as “unlawful and unwise”.

Speaking about the win on video, Rhys said: “Great news today for Ysgol Pentrecelyn , my old school, and for Welsh language education in general.

“Let’s hope now that Denbighshire County Council will pay full attention to this result and support and get right behind Welsh language education in the future. Diolch yn fawr.”

Ysgol Pentrecelyn

In 2015, the council announced plans to close the small village school, which accommodated 56 Welsh-speaking pupils near Ruthin, and merge it with the larger Ysgol Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd in a new building on a different site.

Campaigners argued the council’s decision to implement the “interim” proposal without considering the language and community impacts of the ultimate plan to merge the two schools on a single site was unlawful.

Their case was today upheld by two judges of the High Court, Mr Justice Hickinbottom and His Honour Judge Milwyn Jarman QC, who passed judgement via video link at Wrexham Magistrates Court.

Reacting to the news, Llyr Gruffydd, a parent governor at Ysgol Pentrecelyn and North Wales Assembly Member, said: “This judgement has highlighted a shocking failure on behalf of Denbighshire Council to fully consider the implications of their proposals on the Welsh language.

“Serious questions must be asked about the Welsh Government and the Welsh Language Commissioner’s failure to intervene in this process.

“If it wasn’t for a small group of dedicated parents and supporters of the school, Denbighshire’s proposals would have been implemented on what has now been proven to be an unlawful consultation based on an unlawful language impact assessment.

“The Welsh Government must now act on its rhetoric of creating one million Welsh speakers by ensuring Local Education Authorities do more to proactively strengthen Welsh medium provision.

“Denbighshire Council must accept it has a responsibility not only to retain the existing level of Welsh medium education in the area but to strengthen it.

“We look forward to seeing the council take this legal ruling into account as it reflects on the language category of the proposed new area school.”

Bethan Ruth Roberts from the organisation said: “The court’s finding is very good news for the Welsh language.

“The local campaigners deserve the warmest of congratulations for defeating the council’s stubborn officers.

“If our government is serious about creating a million Welsh speakers, we must have a system which dramatically increases the percentage of pupils receiving Welsh-medium education. We can’t afford more daft proposals like this one.”

A Denbighshire Council spokeswoman said: “While we are disappointed with the decision of the judicial review, we welcome clarification in terms of this complex procedure.

“We remain committed to developing the best educational facilities in Denbighshire, shown by our significant successful track record in delivering projects.

“The council will take time to consider its position and reflect on the judgement and guidance given by the court.

“We will bring forward proposals to continue to implement its vision of first class, 21st-century education for all school pupils.”

A Welsh Government spokesman said: “Llyr Gruffyd’s claims are not entirely accurate.

"He should know full well that the Welsh Government can only intervene in local authority proposals in limited situations due to legislation in Wales, which did not apply in this case.

“Where proposals affect schools which teach through the medium of Welsh, local authorities have a duty to asses the impact on the Welsh language.

“We have just published our plans to grow the number of Welsh speakers to one million by 2050 and meet the growing demand for Welsh-medium education, and increase the number of people learning and able to use the language with their families, in their communities and in the workplace.

"We call on people across Wales to get involved in our consultation on these plans.”

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